My Picture Summary Of 2006
Portland, Ore and Nevada City, CA
As 2006 began, the cold and drizzle of new years, and the feeling not so good was in january sending the vibe to go do something, so it was go up to mt hood as a get away, stay overnight and try skiing for the first time in 20 years, when i did not know how to ski either. After checking into the hotel in the small town of Government Camp, Oregon, the lights for night skiing wew shining at the resort Mt. Hood Ski Bowl right across the street.
Going over and watching a few people on the rope tow, we decided not to wait until morning to attempt skiing, rent some boots and skis and try it out. It was hard letting go of the rope because a turn at the top was required, but after a bunch of runs it was time to get some rest to go to the Mt Hood Meadows the next day.
Meadows started out great going down the green hill a bunch of times without problems, then the next green… It was getting later in the day and there is a green running from the top lift, gotta do it! The problems were ice, ungroomed snow, not wearing ski socks, being able to see the curvature of the earth, and not knowing how to ski.
Being on ice was uncontrollable and making the feel of I am not going to be able to stop. After each slow section there was an Iced hill, with trees in the gravitational pull direction. The upper mountain was closing and there was a ski patrol going along behind to make sure I made it down as the weave of the socks were cutting into the fronts of my shins and now causing pain. Slowly part by part, finally made it down the mountain.
As the horror past the realization of how much better I felt in the snow covered area compared to the city got me really hooked. Time to ski more to get away from the pollen and molds of Portland even though at this time it did not know that pollen was effecting me.
So it was time for more skiing for sure. Trying to find new stuff to do in life in Portland was not as easy as I thought it would be. Other places moved to had not been so difficult with meeting people and finding things to do so it was time to work on some new or old hobbies.
I was driving down Sandy Blvd in the Hollywood district and saw there was a music store closing so I decided to stop and check out what kind of ‘deals’ they had. There was this pretty trumpet there that was supposedly at a discount for $1700. I almost purchased it right there because the salesman was working me but I hadn’t even played for more than 20 years.
Taking note of the brand and model, went to the house and checked ebay and found the same one for $300. The trumpet came soon, I gave it a try it seemed like a great trumpet, but I really didn’t have anything to play or remembered all that well on how, so it was going just sit in the case except for the times I would play with it when I knew the neighbors were not around.
I had to take a trip to Santa Rosa for parents health stuff and on the way stopped in Nevada City to look at a property that was online for sale. I was no longer feeling very well in the rental house in portland and not sure if it was just a bunch of mold getting in from the walls or from outside since the house was older and leaked air like crazy.
Nevada City, California is a place where we had looked for property years in the past, once to try and move my parents there, and other times to just find land to build a house on.
The place found was perfect, on a large piece of land, old growth forest, future expansion on the small house possible, it was perfect. A bit high price but bought it. Packed up the chickens and the belongings in the damp drizzle of Portland, got the ‘kid’ side panels glued on the 2nd crx I had recently purchased. Went south to start anew.
The second day after getting there the realization of that there was more wildlife showed itself when the chickens were out running free without fear and psycho was taken away by a hawk.
A secure coop had to be built to protect them, and they are lonely so more chicks were needed and obtained. During the coop building process and the chicks growing, the pecking order established, they were not to be separated again, and they hens were all very aware of hawk danger.
Getting to know the town and what it had to offer, we went to see the Nevada County Concert Band perform in Pioneer park. When Cheryl the conductor informed the audience that anyone that had played an instrument in the past could join, I decided to pull that trumpet out of the case and give it a try at the next rehearsal. The trumpet was a more of a pro trumpet so I ended up buying more trumpets on ebay trying to find the right one for me. I did also have problems with some notes because of a partial numbness of my upper right lip from having shingles in 2001, but I found a mouthpiece that would help with that. In just a couple weeks I was playing in concerts starting at the county fair.
During the time enjoying the greatness of the small town and what it has there were problems arising. During brush clearing and tree cutting for fire safety, Tim’s allergies were getting worse and breathing really bad. After getting allergy tests, it was starting to become very clear that cedar and juniper trees were a major problem. The problem with the Cedar trees is that in Nevada City the is the Incense Cedar tree, all old growth around the house, and as some were being cut, the amount of pollen flying off as they his the ground was unbelievable and possibly deadly.
The first gen prius was replaced with a new touring model that was much better on the corners and one of the crx’s went to my nephew brian because 4 cars were too many.
Nevada City was one of the best places i’ve been except my allergy tests were not showing actual allergies, which means that there is nothing that can be done about the bad feeling that the trees were giving me, but we could try and get tim’s under control with allergy shots and then we can start expanding the house. The location was great being between skiing, and not far from San Francisco to visit friends and not far from Santa Rosa, so I was closer for the care of my parents, with my mother having to be in a Home now for awhile.
My mother while in a nursing home was slowly getting worse, and she started having a problem that out of thinking of any thing that could possibly happen for her heath wise, she went where not imaginable. She lost the ability to swallow. She could barely get down the blended stuff.
It was another time where I got that call that had happened a few times already, she was failing it wouldn’t be long, so i back that couple days worth of clothes bag and headed towards the Santa Rosa and the miserable place she never wanted to be.
When I arrived I surprisingly found her sitting in the hall in a wheel chair slumped over alone where she should not have been. I had her put back in her bed to access the situation. She was not the unresponsive person that was described to me on the phone, but she was unable to eat, but able to answer honest questions with yes/or no answers using her tongue and blinking in a logical way to answer. This was a big problem.
She never wanted to be in a ‘home’, but she definitely did not want to be on any tubes or life support, but she never wrote it down, never got to it. This was happening just after the whole Terri Schiavo case and since she was so aware and conscious there was no choice but she had to get a feeding tube although I didn’t want to go against her wishes.
The first tube was more of a temporary style that was very uncomfortable and she pulled it out during the night, then after it was replaced, she pulled it again. Her being so aware of what was happening only made the permanent feeding tube the only available option, because at the time there was no doctor that would just let her go with her wishes. While she was at the hospital getting the device, I signed her up to move into a different care home. There was one good nurse there that was very caring but it was time for something new.
With getting nutrition again, there was only the hope of her getting mentally a bit better, but she didn’t want to.
I could only continue with trying to feel better around the trees and hope the allergy doctor for tim could help. The beginning of winter was pretty dry with very little snow fall, so going to the california ski resorts was not helpful since they didn’t have very much snow and the trees had no cover.
Just hope for things better in 2007.